Apparatus for cleaning and handling seed-cotton



(No Model.) 2 Sheets--Sheet 1.

w. E. ELAM, R. s. THOMAS &I s. W. HARDWIGK APPARATUS FOR CLEANING AND HANDLING SEED COTTON- No. 115.21.31. Patented Nov. 26, 1889.

u mm. MM. vim c v 2Sheets-Sheet 2.

A. ON N m Me A m 5 G m .L SD .oM A M 0 H T Patented Nov,

the same in plan.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

\YILLIA ELAM, ROBERT S. THOMAS, AND SAI NY I'. IIARD\\'I( K, OF

DALLAS, TEXAS.

APPARATUS FOR CLEANING AND HANDLING SEED-COTTON.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 415,861, dated. November 26, 1889. 7 Application filed September 16, 1889. Serial No. 324,022. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Ilc it'known that we, \YILLIAM E. ELAM, ROBERT S. THOMAS, and SAUNY W. llARD- wICK, citizens of the United States, residing at Dallas, in the county of Dallas and State of '.lexas,-have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus i or (leaning and llandling Seed-Cotton; and we do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

The object of this invention is to provide improved means for conveying seed-cotton from wagons orstore-ho uses to a series of gins, to clean it during its passage, and to avoid clogging the gins or the devices themselves by rapid feeding of the cotton. The cotton is taken up by pneumatic tubes and delivered to an endless screen-belt whose path intersects the path of the air-current in the tube, and the current that cleans the cotton is the same that causes its advance.

In the drawings forming a part of this application, Figure 1 is an elevation, partly in section, of the entire apparatus. Fig. 2 shows Fig. 3 is an end elevation looking from the right in Figs. 1 and 2. Fig. 4 is an enlarged section on the line as a, Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is a section on the line 3 3 Fig. 1. Fig. 6 is a plan of a part of the trough, the top which covers this part being removed. Fig. 7 is a section on the line 2 2, looking to the right. 1

In the drawings, A A A" is a pneumatic tube, B a fan for creating an air-current therein, and C a pipe for conveying to any desired point the air, dust, &c., drawn from the tube by the action of the fan.

D D are gins resting upon a floor or other suitable support E, and upon them (wit-h or without the usual intermediate gin-feeder) rests a distributor-trough F. Along the bottom of the trough runs the lower fold of an endless belt G, of peculiar construction, driven in the direction of the arrow, Fig. 1, by sprocket-whecls ll, mounted in suitable bearings and receiving motion, through a pulley I and belt J, from a power-impelled pulley h. The tube-section A passes obliquely beneath the upper fold of the belt and delivers its contents continuously upon the moving lower fold directly over the tube-section A", whose upper end surrounds an opening in the bottom of the trough and registers with the end of the section A. The central portion of the belt is of wire-netting or the like, and through it the air and dust pass on to the fan, while the cotton is changed in direction and passes on with the belt to the gins, or, it the gins are full and cannotreceive it, to the end of the trough, where it falls into a receptacle or bin 2, to be sucked up by a branch A" of the tubet-hrough which it first passed, whenever the operator so desires.

The belt G consists of two parallel sprocketchains I. L, connected at regular intervals by cross-bars M, to which are fixed vertical wings N and normally horizontal wings O, thelatter of netting or the like. The chains are carried by four sprocket-wheels II, arranged in pairs at each end of the trough. In order that the cotton may not fall upon and be caught in the chains, the trough is internally narrowed by partitions P, (see Figs. 4 and 5,) supported from the sides of the trough and extending its whole length, but not reaching quite to the bottom. The chains are without the planes of these partitions, beneath the edges of which there is just space for th bars )1. The wings N pass, with some lateral space, between the partitions. The screenwings O are hinged to the bars M, and lugs upon the latter prevent them from rising above a horizontal position when upon the lower fold of the belt, though they drop .fl'OIIl such position to a vertical one when not supported by the bottom of the trough. \Vhen on the upper fold, the lugs prevent their falling and their weight keeps them from rising. Now as they passover the opening into the section A" of the tube they are prevented from falling by a series of small bars Q, extending across the opening and flush with the inner surface of the trough, and hence cotton cannot pass into that section, but must pass on with the belt. The trough has also openings over each gin, and here the wings fall, discharging the cotton until its accumulation prevents the further falling of the wings, when it passes on to the next gin, filling it in like manner. \Vhen all are filled, the surplus, if any, is carried on to the end of the trough and there falls into the receptacle 5.. From the latter it is fed automatically to the tube 4 whenever the operator so desires, by means to be described. The tube opens into an upwardly-open compartment i in the bin and the cotton is delivered into this compartment by an endless apron 3, provided with carrying-spikes 0 and passing around suitable drums or pulleys 8 S. It is actuated by a power-driven belt 97, passing around the pulley 10. The belt may be driven, as shown, from a pulley 9 upon one of the sprocket-wheel shafts; but this is immaterial. In any case the belt may be put in operation or be disengaged at will by any well-known device-such as a loose pulley 90, a clutch, a belt-tightener, or the like-fastand loose pulleys being shown in Fig. 2. As in other apparatus of thisclass, the tube branches are provided with any suitable cut-off valves, as at 11.

It remains to describe the devices for preventing the air in the trough from rushing into the section A. The trough is covered to some distance from this seetiou'on each side, and opposite the opening T the partitions 1 are thickened by blocks l that fit ratherclosely the passing wings N. From the top and side 'alls of the trough aseries of flaps V V, Figs. 5 and 6, of leather or the like, project obliquely into the path of the wings N,which as they advance push them aside, and as upon each side of the opening there are always one or more wings in contaet with the flaps the access of the air is so,

slight as to be immaterial and the current is maintained throughout the whole tube A A A".

\Vhat we claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The combination, with a cotton-conveying pneumatic tube and means for creating a current therein, of a screen conveyer-belt crossing the path of the air-current in said tube and adapted to remove therefrom the advancing cotton.

2. The combination of a divided cottonconveying pneumatic tube, means for creating an air-current in said tube, an endless screen-belt passing between the adjacent ends of the divided tube, and means for imparting motion to said belt.

3. The combination,\vith an endless screenbelt. and means for driving the same, of a divided pneumatic tube with registering adjacent ends, one opening upon one fold of said belt and the other opening in close proximity to the opposi'v ce of the same told, substantially as and for the purpose setforth. 4. The combination,with an endless screenbelt provided with openings and with automatic closures for said openings, of means for driving said belt, a pneumatic tube for discharging cotton upon the lower fold of said belt, and means for creatinga current in said tube, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

creating a current through said sections, substantially as set fort-h.

G. The coinbination,\\'itl1 the gins, the partlycovered trough provided with the openings in its bottom, the endless belt having the central hinged screen-wings supported by the bottom of the trough, the bars crossing one of said openings, and the flexible flaps within the trough upon each side of the barred opening, of the pneumatic tube-section opening into the trough above said barred opening, the tube -section communicating with the trough through said barred opening, and means 'for creatinga current through said sections, substantially as and for thepurpose set forth.

7. The combination, with a series of gins and a distributor adapted to deliver cotton to all of them and to discharge any surplus not taken by the gins, of means for collecting such surplus and automatically returning it to the distributor to be again offered to the gins.

8. The combination, with a series of gins and a dist-ributer adapted to deliver cotton thereto and to discharge any surplus, of a suitable receptacle for said surplus, a conveyer leading from the receptacle to the distributor, and means for feeding the cotton in the receptacle uniformly to the conveyer.

9. The combination, with he gins, the distributor, and the pneumatic tube for conveying cot-ton to the distributer, of the bin to receive the surplus cotton not taken by the gins, the conveyor leading from the bin to the distributor, and the spiked endless apron detachably connected with a power-shaft and adapted to feed the collected cotton continuously and uniformly to the conveyer.

10. The combination,- with the cotton-receptacle 2, having the compartment 4, of the conveyer for carrying cotton from said compart-ment,and the independent conveyor, operable at will, to transfer cotton from the body of the receptacle to said compartment, substantiallv as and for the purpose set forth.

In testimcny whereof we afiix'onr signatures in presence of twowitnesses.

vWILLIAM E. ELAN.

ROBERT S. THOMAS. SAUNY W. HARDWICK. 'itnesses:

5. ll. McBRlDE, H. M. WALBRIDGE. 

